Accurate and spatially explicit habitat maps are essential for monitoring ecological change, supporting nature-based solutions and informing policy. Despite advances in habitat mapping, classification accuracy varies across landscapes and thematic resolutions, highlighting the need for systematic evaluation of classification workflows. This study evaluates EcoservR, an open-source rule-based toolkit for habitat mapping, using field survey data from two contrasting landscapes in northern England: Merseyside (MER) and the North York Moors (NYM). Habitat classifications were generated by integrating multiple national spatial datasets and were evaluated against ecological survey records and high-resolution aerial imagery across three levels of the Phase 1 habitat classification hierarchy developed by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). Overall accuracy ranged from 0.612 +/- 0.015 (Level 3, NYM) to 0.804 +/- 0.012 (Level 1, NYM). Broad habitat classes such as woodland and standing water achieved high precision, while grasslands, heathlands and mires showed lower precision. Accuracy declined with increasing thematic detail, reflecting ecological heterogeneity and limitations in the resolution and currency of input datasets. Observed land-cover patterns corresponded with the known ecological structure of each landscape, although classification biases indicate that fine-scale habitat assessments and quantitative ecosystem-service estimates require supplementary data. Practical implications. EcoservR provides a reproducible workflow for integrating multiple spatial datasets to generate spatially consistent habitat maps. This approach supports regional planning and nature-recovery initiatives where broad habitat categories are sufficient, and its rule-based architecture allows adaptation to other landscapes where comparable datasets are available.

The increasing popularity of outdoor learning (OL) amongst researchers and practitioners highlighted the need to further investigate primary teacher trainees (PTTs) perception towards it and how this may be related to their nature connection. Participants were PTTs who were considering attending Forest School (FS) Training Level 1 as part of their Initial Teacher Education (ITE) course. This mixed-methods research employed the Nature Relatedness (NR) scale to measure trainees’ relationship with nature. Semi-structured interviews with those who chose to attend FS training were conducted to ascertain their perceptions and attitudes towards the training. Through Thematic Analysis of interviews five themes emerged, including favourable perceptions of FS Training and OL for their future teaching career and a positive nature connection. A significant difference in the mean NR scores was identified with higher NR scores for the group who chose to attend the FS training in comparison with those who did not.

Estuaries are unique and complex systems that are important for ecological, cultural and economic reasons. They provide valuable habitat for biodiversity and provide a wide range of regulating, cultural and provisioning ecosystem services. Estuaries have a disproportionate importance to people in comparison to other habitats, which has resulted in high levels of utilization and environmental impact. Poor management, ineffective conservation approaches and global economic changes have resulted in many temperate estuaries becoming both economically and environmentally degraded. We present an argument for the use of the Natural Capital approach as part of the wider green economic agenda in temperate estuaries to support both the environmental and economic recovery of these areas. We make the case that in a habitat always likely to be subject to intense human pressure it provides a holistic decision-making approach which considers ecological aspects alongside the ecosystem's anthropogenic importance and pressures. This allows for damage to be identified quickly and accelerates the process of designing and implementing solutions. It provides a framework for multiple partners with a material interest in maintaining a healthy estuarine environment providing multiple benefits to drive investment in natural capital and delivery of nature recovery. We highlight some of the obstacles in implementing the Natural Capital approach in estuaries at scale, including collaboration and communication between stakeholders in various sectors, the existence of quality natural capital and environmental baselines and the need for partnership to create investment opportunities. We explore how these are being addressed and identify progress in the Natural Capital approach and how this can inform and advance the widespread implementation of the approach.

There is increasing interest in the use of economic valuation of ecosystem goods and services for a wide variety of purposes. These include relatively familiar uses in project appraisal and more novel applications in advocacy, performance tracking and accounting in public and private settings. Decision makers who use valuation information need to understand the background, strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. The methods have a strong foundation in economic theory and offer a rapidly growing evidence base, improving ability to evaluate a broad range of ecosystem goods and services. Nevertheless, there are theoretical and practical limitations that need to be understood and kept in mind when interpreting results. In this paper, we briefly review the economic valuation methods and situate them in their historical and theoretical contexts. We assess the main critiques, attempts at resolving them, and implications for the usefulness of the methods in different contexts. We examine the main barriers and opportunities for wider uses of valuation evidence, and draw conclusions on the appropriate role of valuation in future, as a tool for aiding reflection and deliberation processes.

Delivering access to sufficient food, energy and water resources to ensure human wellbeing is a major concern for governments worldwide. However, it is crucial to account for the 'nexus' of interactions between these natural resources and the consequent implications for human wellbeing. The private sector has a critical role in driving positive change towards more sustainable nexus management and could reap considerable benefits from collaboration with researchers to devise solutions to some of the foremost sustainability challenges of today. Yet opportunities are missed because the private sector is rarely involved in the formulation of deliverable research priorities. We convened senior research scientists and influential business leaders to collaboratively identify the top forty questions that, if answered, would best help companies understand and manage their food-energy-water-environment nexus dependencies and impacts. Codification of the top order nexus themes highlighted research priorities around development of pragmatic yet credible tools that allow businesses to incorporate nexus interactions into their decision-making; demonstration of the business case for more sustainable nexus management; identification of the most effective levers for behaviour change; and understanding incentives or circumstances that allow individuals and businesses to take a leadership stance. Greater investment in the complex but productive relations between the private sector and research community will create deeper and more meaningful collaboration and cooperation.

Despite much rhetoric about the 'greening business' agenda and various initiatives to promote the valuation of ecosystem services and natural capital, the corporate sector has been slow to integrate social and environmental factors into core business models and to extend this integration across their supply chain. Our effort to narrow this thematic and methodological gap focuses on the co-benefits and positive externalities that can be generated through progressive knowledge exchange between a corporation and its suppliers. Using a case study of contract farming of malting barley in water scarce Rajasthan (India), we examine the extent to which best practice agronomic advice given by corporate farm extension workers can help small scale farmers (suppliers) to increase income, improve resource efficiency (water, fertiliser, energy) and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Findings from our desk study suggest positive results for all these variables, when compared to the regional benchmark of non-participating farmers. Under a scenario where advice is provided on all major crops (not just barley), we find a significant further increase of farm income. Our valuation of the reduced exploitation of ground water (alone) exceeds the advisors' annual salaries, suggesting that under full social and environmental accounting, the extension services are not a cost factor, but a profit making unit of the company. We discuss of our findings in relation to alternative approaches to PES and alternative investment strategies in green technologies.

Indigenous fruit tree species such as tamarind (Tamarindus indica L.) in African sub-Saharan traditionally act to build resilience into the farming system in terms of food security, income generation and ecosystem stability. Therefore, increasing our knowledge on their ecology and distribution is a priority. Tamarind is mainly grown for the fruits but is also a valuable timber species. The fruit pulp has a high content of vitamin B and is eaten fresh or made into jam, chutney, juice or sweets. Flowers, leaves and seeds are also edible and used in a variety of dishes. The main objective of this study is to evaluate actual density of tamarind in Senegal and the climate change effects on its distribution for better conservation strategies. Tamarind's distribution and density around villages were recorded and modelled in different agro-ecological zones in Senegal using transect method and under current and future climates. Distribution under two future climate scenarios were modelled using four climate models and three time slices (2020, 2050 and 2080). Results show a decreasing gradient in tree density (from 7 to 1 trees km-2) from the Sudano agro-ecological zone (in the south) to the Sahel (in the north). Future climate predictions show that although tamarind distribution will increase in the north-west and south of the country in 2020; by 2050, the area identified as suitable for its growth will be greatly reduced. Areas in the north-west basin appear to be an important refugia for the species under future climate conditions. However, density around villages in this area was found to be relatively low indicating that this could lead to problems of poor connectivity and inbreeding depression. This region should therefore be highlighted as important conservative management and protection strategies of tamarind in this region.

Although acclaimed as a biofuel crop with high potential to sustainably replace fossil fuels, Jatropha curcas L. remains a poorly studied plant. Reliable yield assessments with conventional methods require agroclimatic and physiological knowledge, which is not yet available for Jatropha. To fill this gap, we tested a novel two‐step approach integrating knowledge from biogeography and population biology with available Jatropha field data. In the first step, using MaxEnt, a widely implemented model in biogeography, we predicted Jatropha fitness in response to climate by relating natural occurrence recorded in herbaria with bioclimatic geodatasets. In the second step, we relied on population biology principles supported by seed mass addition experiments to relate fitness to reproductive potential, hence seed yield. Jatropha seed yield in response to climate was mapped worldwide for actual (1950–2000 average) and future (2020) climate conditions. The modelled Jatropha seed yield was validated against a set of on‐field yield assessments (R2=0.67, P<0.001). The discrepancies between estimated and measured yields were partially explained by model uncertainties, as quantified by the sensitivity analysis of our modelling (R2=0.57, P=0.001). Jatropha has a pan‐tropical distribution, plus specific adaptability to hot temperate areas. Climate variables most significantly affecting modelled yield response were annual average temperature, minimum temperature, annual precipitation and precipitation seasonality.